The Association of Alternative Newsmedia's 2012 Web Conference was held in San Francisco and attended by publishers, editors, and owners from over 130 of North America's alternative news organizations. Stefan Klocek spoke about how alternative news organizations can bring their content to the emerging platform of tablets in "The Revolution will be Portable: Understanding the Tablet Opportunity" session. He highlighted unique qualities of the tablet for local news consumption and gave an overview of how organizations with a cultivated and established brand presence can deeply engage with their audience. View Stefan's presentation below or download it.

This article was written by Aaron Ganci, who recently received his Master of Fine Arts in Design Development from The Ohio State University's Department of Design.

Alan Cooper and Kendra Shimmell recently took a trip to the Midwest and stopped by The Ohio State University for a visit. This trip served double-duty as both a chance for Kendra to spread the word about Cooper's new Midwest-centric activities and for Alan to give the keynote address at Ohio State's Center for Enterprise Transformation and Innovation (CETI) Industry Day. More importantly, both Kendra and Alan spent a lot of time throughout the week engaging in discussions with the students and faculty at Ohio State, and with professionals in the local community.

A few highlights from the week:

Alan and Kendra chatting with a small group of educators and local business leaders.

Cooper's UX Bootcamp

Cooper is partnering with the American Red Cross of Columbus for their UX Bootcamp, where training in user experience design, digital product definition, and research will take place. Participants will learn the process and thinking behind designing products and services that have that spark of magic, all while doing something good for their community. The output of the bootcamp will be given to the American Red Cross of Columbus disaster preparedness and intervention initiatives.

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's personas are either zombies, or about to become so.

That zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover

Background:

That zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover was resting peacefully in his grave when he awoke with a powerful hunger. In spite of his mostly-decayed flesh, he was able to push his way to the surface to begin his (second) life of mayhem.

The bulk of this zombie's time is spent gathering brains to eat. What should be a simple activity is complicated by the fact that most humans are reluctant to share.

When not eating brains, this zombie spends the bulk of his time shufflin’, shufflin’.

How we can help the zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover:

• Use flashing lights and recorded human sounds to guide him in the right directions
• Provide interaction cues that are hard to miss. Really hard to miss.
• Make it possible to interact with very crude gestures and two, one, or no arms.

Factors affecting the zombie that kind of looks like an undead Crispin Glover.

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today’s personas are Antone and Vladimir.

Antone D’Entremont, tortured soul

Background:

Antone grew up in southern Louisiana in the late 1700s, the son of a wealthy landowner. After his childhood sweetheart died, he gave up all hope for life. He told his troubles to a young gentleman who came through town, who promised him an end to Antone’s misery. Instead, he was turned to a vampire, and forced to live a life of eternal suffering, unable to visit his family ever again. Today he broods away his evenings in his family’s decaying plantation.

Challenges with technology:

• Preferring the quill and ink of his childhood, Antone has never gotten the knack of using a keyboard.

How we can help Antone:

• Provide a social interface for finding like-minded souls
• Offer an intuitive interface that does not require calls to tech support (he can’t really call during normal business hours)
• Automatic alerts when his loved ones are in harm's way

Vladimir Korzha, bloodthirsty bat

Background:

Vladimir, known as “Vlad” to his vampire offspring, grew up as a Romanian prince in the early 1400’s. After the tragic killing of his entire family by vengeful serfs, he vowed to devote his life to avenge their death. Vlad was turned to a vampire by a Romani witch during one of his bloody killing sprees. He was thrilled when he realized that his new powers would allow him to continue his killing spree through time immemorial. Today he works as a night watchman in a hospital.

Challenges with technology:

• Vlad gives in to his passions quickly, which takes him away from technology. Any interface must offer quick hits and just-in-time, glanceable information.

How we can help Vladimir:

• Provide a locational interface for locating “willing” prey
• Offer a non-reflective screen, so his co-workers will not realize he has no reflection
• A small, portable interface that fits underwing and works in low light conditions

Next persona Zombie, Zombie, & Emily
Prior persona Romulus: North American Woodland Ape
Unwilling victims: Jim Dibble and Greg Schuler.
Special thanks to Flickr user craigCloutier for the CC use of this image
and to Flickr user Alex Holzknecht for the CC use of this image

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Romulus.

Background:

Romulus has long been the subject of intense curiosity among outdoorsmen and thrill-seeking yokels. Seldom seen with human eyes, the general public tends to doubt his very existence, and yet evidence thereof continues to circulate, most often in the form of grainy VHS footage of creatures that look oddly like humans wearing gorilla suits. Romulus cherishes his privacy, of course, and he goes the great lengths to preserve it. And yet, he often feels as if he is missing something, and many are the nights when he he finds himself longingly gazing at a group of hikers laughing around a campfire. The loneliness of the wilderness can weigh on a soul, even the sturdy soul of a North American Woodland Ape.

Challenges with technology:

• GPS can be unreliable in wilderness redoubts of the Pacific Northwest
• Fat, furry fingers
• Replacing lost iPhone charger without being seen is almost impossible

How we can help Romulus:

• Aid socialization without compromising his veil of privacy.
• Provide better knowledge of "off the beaten path" routes in order to ease the stress of travel.
• Make it easier to filter for ape-friendly options for B&Bs and restaurants.

Prior persona Metansiptah: Vengeful Mummy
Next persona Antone and Vladimir: Modern vampires
Cryptozoolists: Doug LeMoine and Martina Maleike.
Special thanks to Wordpress User Lake Placid Film Forum for the use of their image.

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Metansiptah.

Background:

Metansiptah was not a well-liked ruler. He was poisoned by his Chief of the Scented Oils during his morning ablutions with a paste of arsenic trioxide. The priest reciting his Book of the Dead prayers skipped several spells in order to trap Metansiptah's soul within his mummified remains. His tomb builder placed the correct curses against disturbance, but then left deliberate clues to the location of its entrance. For the past three thousand years, Metansiptah has been awakened from his unending twilight every few decades by the greedy and the foolhardy.

How we can help Metansiptah:

• Accommodate non-ASCII text types
• Use "magical" interaction metaphors to match his Middle Kingdom mental model
• Don't expect speed
• Utilize ubiquitous, location-aware technology to aid his hunt
• Metansiptah has plenty of time, so err on the side of information clarity rather than density

Next persona Romulus: North American Woodland Ape
Prior persona Sammy Bishop, AKA Destro: Gremlin
Egyptologist: Chris Noessel

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Sammy Bishop Destro.

Background:

Little Sammy Bishop was once just a normal boy. But once scratched by a gremlin, he became something else altogether. Destro roams the airports, construction sites, and back alleys of Detroit. Whenever possible, he joins forces with his friends to sabotage things like airplanes, semi-trucks, and heavy construction equipment.

Salient traits:

• Mischievous
• Self-involved
• Addicted to crushing
• An anarchist

How we can help Destro:

• Get him connected with others who are ready to annihilate huge mechanical systems.
• Give him access to lightweight, yet large tools that are optimized for damage.
• Provide contextual help that keep him hidden during his spontaneous, reckless missions of sabotage.

Prior persona Alexi Devers: Lycanthrope
Next persona Metansiptah: Vengeful Mummy
Paranoid airplane travelers: Susan Dybbs and Peter Duyan

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Alexi Devers.

Background:

While recently on a solo full-moon hike of the Samaria Gorge in Greece, Alexi thought he escaped a pack of wild dogs with only a few scratches. That next week he returned to Athens where he and his girlfriend Debbie are studying abroad. Three weeks later he's discovered they weren't dogs, he got more than scratches, and he has much more serious problems than his upcoming finals.

How we can help Alexi:

• Make calendar alerts find him wherever he is--and don't let him hit snooze.
• Outfit his smart phone with a snug-fitting strap that can handle a variety of shapes and kinds of movement, made of a material that can be easily cleaned.
• Provide map directions home that find an optimal path which avoids being seen.
• Connect him with like-minded others across the globe with easy access to ancient mystical texts and automatic language translation.

Prior persona Juan Espinoza: Class 5 Full-Roaming Vapor
Next persona Sammy Bishop, AKA Destro: Gremlin
Special thanks to Flickr User Cara Photography for the CC licensed use of this portrait.
Loup-garou-ionado: Chris Noessel

As Halloween approaches, and the veil between worlds grows wan, threadbare, and permeable, Cooper realizes that we can serve the spirit, spook, and creature population better if we understand them from a Goal-Directed perspective. In service of this we present a short series of Halloween personas. Today's persona is Juan Espinoza.

Background:

Juan was a senior conductor for the Next Stage Railway in 1889, when a demonic cow on the track derailed the train, killing all aboard and decapitating him in the wreckage.

How we can help Juan:

• Use mechanical controls to match his 19th-century mental model and skill set.
• Make things accessible so they are easy to detect and operate without eyes, ears, or the ability to make physical contact with objects.
• Support multiple languages.

Next persona Alexi Devers: Lycanthrope
Spectral investigator: Chris Noessel

Platfora, a new startup in the Hadoop business intelligence space, is working with Cooper to design an elegant, intuitive interface to bring clarity to the chaos of big data.

After Platfora received 5.7 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz; Cooper worked on a rapid, collaborative two-week timeline with a team of five designers to create their website, www.platfora.com. Platfora CEO Ben Werther said, "we wanted to convey the clarity and simplicity that we are striving for in our product experience — without showing actual screenshots. Cooper's design work on our website conveyed this message perfectly."

A clean sans-serif designed by Minneapolis type foundry Process combined with rich, vibrant visualizations designed by the Cooper team combine for a unique and beautiful site we're proud to have been linked to in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch and New York Times.

Immediately after launch, the site received rave reviews on Twitter:

See the site at www.platfora.com.

Related Reading

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• The litl: a design miracle!
• Mental Models for product and service strategy
• Take the visual interface design class